Cursed
by Sincerely The Sign Painter
Summary: Sasada Kitamoto, and Nishimura go into an old abandon house because Sasada want's to look for youkai. What they find is more then they can handle.
1. Chapter 1

It was a dark stormy evening. Most people would be inside right now. Most people wouldn't be in an old abandoned house right now. Sasada had other plans.

"I wonder if we'll find any ghosts here!" Sasada said as she, Kitamoto, and Nishimura walked down a hall of the abandoned house.

"You're really into this stuff." Kitamoto muttered. "You know we won't find anything. Spirits don't exist, so let's just go home." Sasada ignored him and continued to wonder down the hall.

"Hurry up, you two!" she called over her shoulder. Both boys exchanged looks and sighed.

"Why did she drag us along again?" Nishimura asked annoyed.

"Because she couldn't get Natsume to come." Kitamoto reminded him.

"Too bad he didn't come." Sasada grumbled. "It would have been so much more interesting if he did. We would actually find something."

"Hey, we're not that bad!" Kitamoto said indignantly.

"Besides, I'm not sure he's really into that kind of thing." Nishimura commented. "Natsume's so jumpy all the time; this place would probably really scare him." She ignored them again and went into one of the rooms, Kitamoto and Nishimura following her in. The room was full of old, dusty furniture. Most of it was covered in sheets, except for a small statue of a dog that was sitting on the table in the middle of the room.

"Hmmm." Sasada muttered, disappointed. "I don't see anything in here…"

"What were you hoping to find?" Nishimura asked her. "It's not like there's going to be a youkai sitting on table waiting for you."

"I know." She sighed. "I was more hoping that something supernatural would happen, like we'd hear footsteps or hear a voice."

"You want that to happen?" Kitamoto asked, horrified. "That's the sort of thing that happens in horror movies right before people start disappearing!"

"The only thing creepy in this room is that dog statue in the corner." Nishimura said.

"Yeah, its eyes seem to follow us. Creepy…" Kitamoto said, sounding slightly worried.

"Ah, are you afraid of it?" Nishimura teased while walking over to the statue.

"I'm not." Kitamoto growled, eyeing the dog statue. "Though, I'd feel more comfortable if it was covered like the rest of the furniture."

"Then cover it if it bugs you that much." Sasada grumbled. "There are sheets on the ground." Nishimura bent over and pulled a sheet off the ground. The sheet went flying up, knocking the table over, and the statue flew off the table and hit the ground, breaking into pieces.

"You broke it!" Sasada exclaimed.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Nishimura said. "I didn't know that table was so unstable."

"_Who dares to wake me from my slumber?"_ a low voice hissed. All three teens turned to see the dog statue float up and put itself back together.

_"Humans, for your disrespect, I will eat you!"_ It hissed again as it started to grow in size.

"Run!" Nishimura yelled as the three of them charged into the hall.

"Is... that what… you wanted… to… happen?" Nishimura gasped as they ran.

"No!" Sasada exclaimed, panting. "I was hoping… to find a… good youkai. Besides… It's your fault… you broke… it."

"Can we save this until after we're safe?" Kitamoto yelled as they ran down a staircase.

_"Do you think you can outrun me?!" _They heard it hiss. Suddenly the giant dog statue jumped down in front of them, blocking their exit.

"We're going to die." Nishimura whimpered. The statue opened its mouth to reveal massive, sharp teeth. The three teenagers huddled together in fear and watched as the monster approached them. It stopped a few inches away from them and growled.

_"This feeling… I'm still not free yet. I cannot leave without my name…"_ It hissed. _"Curse you, Reiko."_ The youkai stopped and thought for a moment. _"Humans, how about we make a deal? I'll let you live if you find me the Book of Friends."_

"The Book of Friends?" Sasada asked nervously. "What's that?"

_"A powerful object."_ It growled. _"I may not be able to get my name back, but with an army of youkai at my side I can do whatever I want! I'll be able to tear down this building and escape into the outside world."_ It stopped as it remembered that there were still humans there. _"Ah, but it doesn't matter to you what I do with the book. If you don't bring it to me, I'll eat you! Oh, and don't try running. I put a curse on you. If you take too long or I want to know how your search is going I can call you back here and you'll be forced to return!"_

"A curse?" Kitamoto asked as a sharp pain hit is arm. He gasped in pain and grabbed his arm. The other two did the same.

_"Now go find me the Book of Friends."_ It said as it disappeared. _"And don't fail…or else."_ It vanished, leaving the three teenagers alone to their thoughts.

.

**Please review! It makes my day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**First I'd like to thank my beta, OraueTwins. Second I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed on my story. You guys are so epic! Ok on to the story!**

**.**

**The next day at school…**

.

"Where are we going to find the Book of Friends?" Kitamoto asked Nishimura as they walked down the hall. "I doubt it's just lying around somewhere."

"Maybe we could check the library?" Nishimura suggested. "It is a book after all."

"Morning, boys!" Sasada called as she ran down the hall towards them. "So last night…."

"It really happened." Nishimura said glumly.

"Oh," Sasada said, disappointed. "I was hoping it was just my overhyped imagination. So, what are we going to do?"

"We were just talking about where the Book of Friends might be." Nishimura said. "I was suggesting the library."

"I doubt it would be there." Kitamoto said. "The youkai said it was a powerful object. If it were lying around a library, someone would have picked it up by now. I bet it's hidden underground or in some secret passage way with lots of traps."

"I think it's probably owned by a youkai." Sasada said thoughtfully. "Maybe Reiko?"

"So you think Reiko has it?" Nishimura said, frowning.

"Arg, this is impossible!" Kitamoto exclaimed. "If youkai are so good at hiding that most people don't think they even exist, then how are we supposed to find them?"

"Youkai aren't good at hiding." Sasada said. "Humans just can't see them. There are probably a bunch of them here right now."

"What? Seriously?" Kitamoto exclaimed, nervously looking around. It was hard to imagine youkai wandering around the school.

"That's so creepy." Nishimura whispered. "It's like another world on top of our world."

"I know! It's so cool." Sasada said. "I love to try and picture what kinds of youkai are wandering around the school."

"Hey, if they aren't visible to humans then why could we see the one at the abandoned house?" Nishimura suddenly asked.

"Well, I read that some powerful youkai can take shapes that humans can see. Also there are objects that can make them visible to the human eye. A third way is to possess an object." Sasada said. "I think it was just possessing that statue. We could see the statue so we knew where it was. I don't think that's how it actually looks."

"If that's the case then how are we going to find the youkai who has the Book of Friends?" Kitamoto asked worriedly.

"Well, there are some people in the world who can see youkai." Sasada said.

"Really?" Nishimura asked. "Do you know anyone who can see them?"

"I'm pretty sure Natsume can." Sasada said.

"Natsume? Are you sure?" Kitamoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he acts like he does." Sasada said. "He's always distracted, looking at nothing. He does strange things like talk to thin air. I sometimes see him running from nothing. What else could it be?"

"Maybe you're looking too much into it." Nishimura commented. "If he really does see youkai, don't you think he'd act more fearful? I mean we broke a statue and the youkai tried to eat us! If it's that easy to anger a youkai don't you think Natsume would be more cautious?"

"But he does act fearful!" Sasada retorted back. "Have you ever surprised him before? He looks terrified!"

"Even so, most of the time he acts pretty calm." Nishimura said. "I mean, sure, he does strange things but that doesn't automatically mean he can see them! Have you asked him?"

"Yes," Sasada said, evenly.

"What did he say?" Nishimura asked.

"He said he couldn't." Sasada muttered. "But he could be lying!"

"Why would he lie?" Nishimura asked. "If youkai are as dangerous as the one we met then he wouldn't want to face them alone!"

"Maybe no one would believe him!" Sasada retorted.

"But you asked him, so that means you believe him." Nishimura said back. "If so, then why would he lie to you?"

"It doesn't matter!" Kitamoto interrupted. "It doesn't matter if Natsume can see youkai or not because we aren't going to involve him! Think about it. Even if he can see them, getting him involved is still dangerous! He could be eaten, or cursed. Do you guys really want to put Natsume's life at risk?"

"No, you're right." Nishimura muttered.

"But how are we going to find the Book of Friends without Natsume?" Sasada asked.

"We could, I don't know, hire an exorcist?" Kitamoto said.

"Do they actually exist?" Nishimura asked.

"Well, why not?" Kitamoto said. "Youkai are real so why not exorcists? Isn't the job of an exorcist to get rid of youkai?"

"How do we find an exorcist?" Sasada asked. "I doubt they're just in a phone book."

"Hey, I wonder if Reiko is an exorcist." Kitamoto commented.

"Ok, our first step is to find out more about Reiko." Sasada said. "Let's split up and ask around. We can meet up later and figure out what we found."

**.**

**Meanwhile with Natsume…**

.

Natsume was having a bad day. He was kept up all night because a bunch of youkai decided to throw a party in his room. He overslept and was late for school. To top it all off, a youkai was following him around.

"What do you want?" Natsume finally asked.

"Are you Natsume?" the youkai asked timidly.

"Yes," Natsume said sighing. "What do you want?"

"My name." it said. "Please return my name."

"I'll give you your name after school." Natsume said.

"No!" It said, shaking its head. "Please give it back now! Before it's too late!"

"What do you mean?" Natsume asked, concerned. Why was this youkai so worried?

"Someone wants to steal the Book of Friends!" it said. "I want my name back before that happens!"

"Many youkai want the Book of Friends." Natsume said. "I'm not going to lose it to one of them."

"They aren't youkai." the youkai exclaimed. "They're humans!"

"They're humans?!" he exclaimed nervously. Who knew his secret? Was it an exorcist? Why did they want the book?

"Yes, I heard them talking earlier in one of the school halls!" the youkai said. "Please give me back my name!"

"In the halls?" Natsume questioned. "Were they adults or teens?"

"Teens... I think… they were small humans." it said.

"How many were there?"

"Three."

"Were they girls or boys? What did they look like?"

"I don't know!" the youkai cried. "All humans look alike! Please, give me back my name!" Natsume paused for a second and sighed. He wouldn't be getting any more out of it.

"Come with me." he said, walking down the hall into a spare classroom. "I'll give you your name back."

.

"Thank you, Natsume!" it said as it disappeared. Natsume sighed again, feeling drained.

"I wonder who's after the Book of Friends." Natsume wondered as he sunk to the ground. "Also, why are they after it? For power? How did they even learn about the Book of Friends? Only youkai know about it. Unless they can see youkai…" Natsume's face paled at the thought. There were other students here who could see youkai and he didn't notice them. How much did they know about him? How did he not notice them before? Why didn't they confront him? Natsume stood up and walked out of the classroom. He walked down the hall, lost in thought. Everyone looked suspicious. Any one of the students who were walking around him could be after the Book of Friends.

"Natsume?" a voice called out. He turned to see Nishimura and Kitamoto standing behind him.

"Are you ok?" Kitamoto asked. "You look pale."

"Oh… yeah." Natsume said, distracted. "I'm not feeling well… I'm going to go home." He quickly rushed down the hall away from his friends.

"I need to go home and talk to Sensei." Natsume thought. "I need to find who knows about the Book of Friends."

.

**Please review it'll only take you a minute and it makes my day**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took so long! School was really killing me. But now I'm back! Anyway here's a recap of what's been happening in the story so far. If you remember then feel free to skip it.**

**Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto went into an abandoned house and ended up getting cursed by a youkai who told them that it would eat them if they did not find the Book of Friends and bring it back to it.**

**They talk about where the Book of Friends might be and decided to look for information on Reiko because the youkai brought her up.**

**Meanwhile, Natsume hears from a youkai that some humans are after the Book of Friends and he goes to ask Sensei about it…**

.

**At Natsume's house**

.

"You're worrying too much," Sensei said calmly after Natsume explained what happened. "The youkai was probably lying to get his name back."

"But I told him I'd give him his name back later." Natsume said worriedly. "There was no reason for him to lie."

"He probably didn't believe you." Sensei said, opening a bag of chips. Natsume looked down while frowning. It really bothered him that someone knew about the book of friends.

"I'm going to ask around." Natsume said standing up. "Maybe some youkai know more about their people." He stood up and walked over to the door and headed out. Sensei looked up from his bag of chips and put it down. Although he thought the youkai was lying, he didn't want to take the chance that it might be telling the truth. If another human got their hands on the Book of Friends it would mean he would not get it.

"What a pain." Sensei groaned. "I guess I'll have to go look into this."

.

**Meanwhile…**

.

"Ok, what did you guys find!" Sasada said as they all met up.

"I've got nothing," Nishimura said glumly.

"Me too," Kitamoto sighed.

"Oh come on guys!" Sasado said.

"Hey, did you do any better?" Nishimura demanded.

"Yes actually," She said, "I found out that Reiko used to live around here."

"Used to?" Kitamoto asked. "Did she move?"

"I don't know." Sasada said, shrugging. "It was many years ago. If she's still alive she'd be old by now."

"Then how are we going to find her?" Nishimura asked.

"I was thinking we should look up more about her. I bet we could find a picture of her in the library somewhere. She used to attend school around here."

"Ok, so let's go to the library." Nishimura said.

.

**Later, at the library…**

.

"We've been looking for hours!" Kitamoto groaned. "Let's take a break."

"No, we need to find this!" Sasada said, frustrated. "Do you want to be eaten?"

Kitamoto sighed and continued looking. After a few minutes he said, "Hey guys I think I found her." Nishimura and Sasada ran over. Kitamoto was pointing to a name on a page. Although it was hard to read it did say Reiko on it.

"Yep, that's her name." Nishimura said, "But I can't read her last name. Darn it, that would have made our lives easier."

"Well at least there's a picture of her." Sasada said pointing to a picture on the next page. All three of them looked over at the picture. It was quiet for a moment.

"What? Isn't that…"

"The girl from the arcade." Nishimura finished Kitamoto's sentence. "Yeah, that's her."

"You know her?" Sasada asked surprised.

"Yeah, we've met her before. She wasted all our money on food and arcade games." Kitamoto said quietly. "She said she was friends with Natsume."

"I see," Sasada said. Frowning suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Wait, I know her! She was the girl that was with Natsume at the abandoned school."

"You've seen her to?" Kitamoto asked then he shook his head. "This is impossible! She wouldn't still look like that!"

"Unless she's not human." Sasada said.

"But she attended school." Kitamoto said weakly, "She has to be human."

"Maybe she was a youkai that could take human form?" Sasada suggested.

"What if she used to be human but then a youkai possessed her and took over her body?" Nishimura said.

"They can't possess people!" Kitamoto said nervously. "Can they?"

"I don't know." Sasada said.

"I thought you were a youkai expert!" Kitamoto said.

"I don't know everything about them!" Sasada said, sighing, "If they can possess items then maybe they can possess humans! That still doesn't explain why a youkai would possess her!"

"Maybe because it wanted the Book of Friends?" Nishimura suggested.

"Oh yeah, that might be it. Alright then, we now have two theories," Sasada said. "One, Reiko was a youkai or two Reiko was possessed by a youkai."

"What do we do now?" Kitamoto asked.

"Hmm I think we need to first figure out if youkai can possess people." Sasada said.

"No, we need to figure out more about Reiko." Nishimura said.

"Maybe we should ask Natsume." Kitamoto said.

"I thought you wanted to keep Natsume out of this?" Sasada asked.

"I do, but if he's friends with Reiko then he could be in danger too!" Kitamoto said. "If Reiko is a youkai then she might want to eat him! If Reiko is being possessed then she might want to possess him! Either way, he's in danger!"

"You're right." Sasada said quietly. "We need to warn him!"

"Hold on." Nishimura said. "Even if Natsume is in danger he probably wouldn't believe us. He knows her as a normal human being. Why would he believe us that she's evil?"

"We still need to do something!" Sasada exclaimed. "We can't just sit back and let that youkai kill him! We've seen how dangerous youkai are."

"I know that!" Nishimura said, frowning. "But we still shouldn't get him involved!"

"Let's try to figure out more about her." Kitamoto said. "If we can find where she is hiding, we can confront her."

"Where are we going to find her anyways?" Sasada asked.

"I don't know." Nishimura said. "Last time we found her around town. Maybe we should look around?"

"I guess we have to." Sasada sighed. "Alright, let's start looking!"

.

**Meanwhile**

**.**

"Humans are such a bother." Sensei grumbled as he sat in a tree. What started off as a short investigation turned out to be full on search. The more youkai he questioned the more the evidence piled up that there were humans after the Book of Friends. When further questioned, the youkai couldn't give any more detail on what the humans looked like because humans looked all alike.

"If humans didn't all look the same I would have figured out who they were by now." Sensei sighed. Then he had an idea. Youkai were hopeless in this situation but maybe the humans might know something. It was a long shot but it was worth a try.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." he growled as he changed into Reiko's form. He hopped out of the tree and walked down the street.

"Now, who to ask?" Sensei wondered, tapping his chin. "Maybe I should go ask Natsume's human friends. They seem dumb enough to tell me."

"Hey, you!" he heard someone yell. Sensei stopped and turned to see Natsume's friends running towards him.

"Well that was easy." he thought as they approached him.

"We have some questions to ask you." One of Natsume's friends said panting. Sensei raised an eyebrow.

"I have some questions to ask you to." he said.

"Answer our questions first." the girl demanded.

"What a bother." Sensei grumbled as he turned to walk away. There was no way he was going to answer the humans' stupid questions.

"Reiko, wait!" one of the boys yelled. Sensei froze and slowly turned around with his eyes narrowing.

_"How do they know Reiko's name?"_ he thought angrily. _"Did they hear it from a youkai?"_ Sensei shot forward and pinned one of the guys against the wall.

"How do you know that name?" he hissed. Natsume's human friend looked frightened.

"W-w-what?" stammered the guy.

"If you don't answer me I will eat you." Sensei snarled.

"Let him go!" yelled the girl as she tried to hit him. Suddenly, something hit Sensei on the head. He growled and let go of the guy. Natsume's three friends took off down the street. Sensei rubbed his head and looked down at the stone that one of Natsume's friends had thrown at him.

"They'll pay for that." he growled as he took off after them.

.

**Thank you all who reviewed on this story and helped me stay motivated to write another chapter.**

**Please review**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone, it's been a while. I was buried alive from school. But I'm back now. First I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. You guys are epic. Second I would like to thank my beta reader OraueTwins.**

**Ok then because I haven't updated in a while I am going to recap everything that happened in the last few chapters. If you remember then just skip this part.**

**Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto went into an abandoned house and ended up getting cursed by a youkai who told them that it would eat them if they did not find the Book of Friends and bring it back to it.**

**They talk about where the Book of Friends might be and decided to look for information on Reiko because the youkai brought her up.**

**They looked up information on Reiko and found a picture of her which led them to believe that she was a youkai or being possessed by a youkai.**

**Meanwhile, Natsume hears from a youkai that some humans are after the Book of Friends so Sensei turns into Reiko question humans about the book of friends.**

**He runs into • Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto who recognize him as Reiko. He tried questioning them but they run away….**

**.**

"Did… we… lose her?" Nishimura gasped as he slowed down to catch his breath.

"Yeah… I think so." Kitamoto panted as he came to a stop and slid down to the ground.

"That was scary." Sasada said as she sat down. "Though I don't know what we'd expect from a youkai. I'm just glad we got away."

"That was a bad idea." Kitamoto groaned, "now she knows that we're looking for her."

"Looking for who?" a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Natsume walking over to them.

"Natsume!" Sasada exclaimed, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Just shopping," he said calmly, "what were you guys talking about?"

"Do you know that girl you're friends with?" Sasada asked. "The one that was in the abandoned school?" Nishimura gave her a sharp look.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to tell him anything."

"Yeah, I know her. Why?" Natsume asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ok, um this is going to sound crazy but… I don't think she's human." Sasada said, ignoring Nishimura. Nishimura gave a frustrated sigh.

"Oh?" Natsume said coldly. Kitamoto, who was watching the conversation, frowned. There was something off about Natsume. He wasn't acting himself. There was also something wrong with the look in his eyes. It was so… cold. Natsume didn't get that look. Natsume always smiled in that fake way.

"It started when we went looking through a haunted house." Sasada started, "It was my idea but I dragged these two along with me. While we were there-" Kitamoto stepped forward interrupting her.

"There's something not right here." he said. "Are you alright, Natsume?"

"That's a stupid question." Natsume snorted. "I'm fine."

"You're not acting like yourself." Kitamoto said.

"Oh?" Natsume said coldly. "What do you mean by that?!

"I just mean…" Kitamoto said trying to find the right words. "You're acting like another person."

"How did you jump to that conclusion?" Nishimura hissed. "He's going to think you're insane."

"But look at the way he's acting!" Kitamoto said, gesturing at Natsume. "He's clearly not himself."

"You caught on quick." Natsume smirked, looking evil. "I guess humans aren't as stupid as I give them credit for. You're right. I'm not Natsume." He took a step forward. Nishimura felt dread enter him.

"You're not… that means…" he shuddered as his eyes grew wide. "Give him back. Leave him out of this! Natsume has nothing to do with any of this so there was no reason to possess him!" Natsume stopped moving, a look of surprised crossing his face followed by annoyance.

"Possessed? Is that what… humans are so stupid." Natsume groaned, shaking his head. The look didn't suit Natsume at all. It felt unnatural coming from him.

"Please let him go." Sasada cried out. "He has nothing to do with the Book of Friends!" Natsume turned to look at her.

"What did you say?" he growled, eyes narrowing. "How do you know about that?!" He lunged forward and grabbed Sasada.

"Let go," she yelled, "Natsume, fight it! You're being possessed!"

"Let her go!" Nishimura yelled as he reached down and picked up a stick. He raised it over his head to hit Natsume.

"What are you doing?!" Kitamoto exclaimed, grabbing Nishimura's arm. "Don't hit him!"

"He's going to hurt Sasada!" Nishimura snapped.

"But he's possessing Natsume." Kitamoto exclaimed. "If you hit him you could hurt Natsume! He's already kind of weak."

"Then what are we going to do?" Nishimura asked.

"This is getting tiresome. How about I make a deal with you humans?" Natsume said, "you tell me everything that's going on and I'll give you Natsume back." He put Sasada down and crossed his arms.

"Really?" Kitamoto said distrustfully.

"You don't believe me?" Natsume said sweetly. The three of them glanced at each other.

"Ok, look at it this way." Natsume said after a few seconds. "What choice do you have? If you want him back then you have to tell me everything."

"We don't have much of a choice." Nishimura said slowly. Natsume smiled amusingly as they began their story.

.

**A couple minutes later.**

.

"Humans are morons." Natsume groaned, shaking his head. "So stupid." He shook his head one more time and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey!" Sasada yelled.

"Where'd he go?" Kitamoto asked, alarmed.

**.**

**Meanwhile.**

.

"Humans are morons." Sensei groaned shaking his head. "So stupid." He shook his head one more time and then turned into his true form.

"Hey!" Natsume's female human friend yelled.

"Where'd he go?" One of the guys said stupidly. Sensei rolled his eyes and took off into the sky.

"Humans are such a bother." he grumbled. It was a good idea to change his identity into Natsume's, though he didn't expect them to notice so quickly.

"I guess it makes sense for them to be on edge." he muttered to himself. "Even so, I have no clue where they got the idea that I'd possessed him. Oh well, at least it made it easier to get information out of them. Now to go check out this 'haunted house.'"


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok first I have to say thank you so much for all the reviews. You guys are awesome. ****Also thanks for my beta reader OraueTwins. **

**Ok on to the story!**

.

_"Humans are morons." Natsume groaned, shaking his head. "So stupid." He shook his head one more time and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. _

"Hey!" Sasada yelled.

"Where'd he go?" Kitamoto asked, alarmed. The three of them stood there looking around hopping that Natsume would pop out of thin air again. He didn't. "Is he gone?" Kitamoto asked finally.

"It looks like it." Sasada muttered. Nishimura slammed his fist into the wall.

"He lied to us." He hissed. "She wasn't going to give Natsume back."

"Do you think Natsume's gone forever?" Sasada asked, shaken. It was quiet again.

"So what do we do?" Kitamoto asked. "Our friend was just taken by a youkai and we are no closer to finding the Book of Friends to break our own curse."

"This is my fault." Sasada whispered, sinking to the ground. "I brought you into that house. I wanted to get Natusme involved. I just wanted to see a youkai! I never meant for any of this to happen. Natsume's gone. What do we do?"

"We find Reiko." Nishimura said putting his hand on Sasada's shoulder.

"Are you crazy?!" Kitamoto exclaimed. "When we got her involved, Natsume was possessed!"

"Which is exactly why we need to find her." Nishimura said clenching his fists. "There's got to be a way to get Natsume back. If we avoid her we'll never get him back. Also don't forget she's still our only lead to the Book of Friends. She reacted when we brought it up before."

"I guess you're right." Sasada muttered while standing up. "Let's try to find her again. But this time let's think of a plan before confronting her."

.

**Meanwhile with Natsume… . **

.

"Thanks anyway." Natsume said while bowing to another youkai. He had been spending the last few hours walking around asking random youkai about the humans who might know about the Book of Friends. The more he asked the youkai the more proof he had that humans were after the Book of Friends, though the youkai didn't have any details on who they were. "Where should I go next?" he muttered to himself as he headed down the street. He turned the corner and saw Kitamoto, Sasada and Nishimura walking ahead. Natsume wondered if he should call out to them when he noticed how serious their faces looked. "Hey!" he called out, walking towards them. They turned around quickly and their eyes widened.

"Now you show up!" Nishimura snapped. "Did you think you could break our promise? Give him back!" He reached forward and grabbed Natsume's arm.

"Wait, Nishimura!" Sasada exclaimed. Kitamoto muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Natsume stammered worriedly. What was wrong with them? They were acting strange. Were they being possessed? Natsume felt dread fill him. If something happened to them because of him he'd never forgive himself.

"You know what we're talking about." Nishimura hissed.

"Nishimura." Kitamoto whispered, "look at his eyes." Nishimura pulled away staring at Natsume. Natsume looked down self-consciously. The three of them started whispering together. Natsume watched while feeling worried.

"What's going on?" He wondered. Was it something to do with his eyes? Who was he supposed to give back? Why were they so angry? A sudden thought made his blood go cold. "Did they know about the youkai?" Were they angry at him because he could see them? Because he never told them? Because he lied to them? Where they afraid? Did they think he was acting to freaky?

"Sorry about that." Sasada said happily as they stopped talking to each other. "We thought you were someone else."

"What?" Natsume asked, confused. The sudden change really threw him off. Kitamoto put his arm around Natsume's shoulder.

"Let's get something to eat." he said.

"I'll catch up with you three later." Sasada said as she ran off.

"Wait, what?" Natsume said, still really confused. Nothing about this situation made any sense.

"Come on, let's go!" Kitamoto said as they dragged Natsume off.

"Hold on!" Natusme said. Kitamoto and Nishimura turned around and looked at him.

"What is it?" Nishimura asked. Natsume frowned and looked at him. He looked really relieved about something and it was making him really happy.

"Never mind," he muttered. He didn't want to pry. He really didn't have any right to try to figure out their secret, not while he was hiding his own. Whatever made them act strange was probably nothing. He was probably reading too much into it.

"Ok!" Kitamoto said, "Let's go!"

.

**From Kitamoto, Nishimura and Sasada's POV… **

.

"Where could she have run off to!" Kitamoto yelled, frustrated.

"Who knows," Sasada said tiredly, "we've been looking for her for a while. I'm so tired."

"We can't give up now!" Nishimura exclaimed, annoyed. "We need to save Natsume."

"Where should we check next?" Kitamoto asked.

"Let's go to the school." Sasada suggested. "Maybe she's hanging around there."

"Ok let's go there." Nishimura said with his fist clenched as they all started heading down the street

"Hey!" a voice yelled from behind them. They turned to see Natsume walking towards them. Their eyes widened.

"Now you show up!" Nishimura snapped. "Did you think you could break our promise? Give him back!" He reached forward and grabbed Natsume's arm.

"Wait, Nishimura!" Sasada exclaimed running after him.

"So much for waiting before confronting her." Kitamoto muttered.

"What?" Natsume stammered worriedly.

"You know what we're talking about." Nishimura hissed.

"Nishimura." Kitamoto whispered while eyeing Natsume, "look at his eyes." Nishimura pulled away staring at Natsume. Natsume looked down self-consciously. Nishimura turned to the other two. "He doesn't have the same eyes as earlier." he whispered.

"Do you think Natsume's back?" Sasada asked hopefully.

"It looks like it." Kitamoto said, glancing over at Natsume who was looking confused and worried. "But by the way he's acting he doesn't seem to have any memories of being possessed."

"What do we do now?" Sasada asked. "We have to watch Natsume so he doesn't get possessed again while one of us goes looking for Reiko."

"Reiko kept her promise, do you think she'll go back on her word?" Kitamoto asked.

"She's a youkai, of course she could break her promise. Besides, she never said she wouldn't repossess him. She only that she would stop possessing him."

"Ok good point," Sasada said. "I'll go looking for her first. You two hang with Natusme."

"Right." the boys said as they pulled away.

"Sorry about that." Sasada said cheerfully as she walked towards Natsume "We thought you were someone else."

"What?" Natsume asked, confused. Kitamoto put his arm around Natsume's shoulder.

"Let's get something to eat." he said. "I'll catch up with you three later." Sasada said as she ran off.

"Wait, what?" Natsume said, still really confused.

"Come on, let's go!" Kitamoto said as they dragged Natsume off.

"Hold on!" Natusme said. Kitamoto and Nishimura turned around and looked at him.

"What is it?" Nishimura asked. Natsume frowned at them and seemed to be thinking of something.

"Never mind," he muttered, looking down.

"Ok!" Kitamoto said cheerfully, "Let's go!"

**. Sensei POV . **

Sensei arrived at the so called "haunted house" and went in. Inside he found the angry youkai that cursed Natsume's stupid friends. It was pacing back and forth at the bottom of the staircase growling to its self. "Reiko will pay." it hissed as it paced around.

"So you're the cause of all these problems." Sensei sighed. "What a pain." The youkai looked up and hissed at him.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Sensei didn't answer, instead he lunged forward. The sooner he got rid of this nuisance the sooner those stupid humans would stop prying. To his surprise he found that he couldn't reach the youkai. He was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"What?" he exclaimed as he bounced back and turned into his cat form. The youkai laughed.

"It seems like Reiko's barrier is still strong." it said. "We won't be able to touch each other or leave until one of us gets my powers back or a descendant of Reiko's comes to break the barrier."

"That's what you want the Book of Friends for." Sensei grumbled, sitting down. "You lost to Reiko and had to give her your name." The youkai hissed angrily in response to him. Sensei ignored him and settled down. The barrier kept him in his cat form which meant he didn't have all his power. He suddenly realized that he had to wait for Natsume to show up to get out. It was going to be a long wait. Hopefully Natsume would find this place and not get eaten…or distracted….or distracted and then eaten. "I'm never getting out of here." he moaned. What he wouldn't give for a bottle of Sake.

.

**Please review, it really makes my day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! It's been a while. Sorry it took me so long to update. **

**Before starting I'd like to thank my beta reader OraueTwins and everyone who reviewed. You guess are epic!**

**Ok since it took me so long to update here's a recap of what happed up to this point. If you remember then feel free to skip.**

**.**

**Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto went into an abandoned house and ended up getting cursed by a youkai who told them that it would eat them if they did not find the Book of Friends and bring it back to it.**

**They decided to look for information on Reiko because the youkai brought her up. This led them to find a picture and believe she's a youkai. **

**Later they confront sensei who has disguised as Reiko. To get more information on what the three humans they knew about Reiko Sensei turns into Natsume.**

**This leads them to believe that Reiko is possessing Natsume. They tell Sensei what happened in order to "free" Nastume and Sensei goes off to confront the youkai. Sensei then gets trapped by Reiko's barrier and is stuck with the youkai**

**Meanwhile Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto bump into the real Natsume and decided to watch him so he won't be possessed while Sasada goes looking for the Book of Friends….**

**He runs into • Sasada, Nishimura, and Kitamoto who recognize him as Reiko. He tried questioning them but they run away….**

.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night!" Kitamoto said cheerfully to Natsume as he set up a mat in his room. It was hard but Nishimura and Kitamoto finally convinced Natsume to let them stay.

"Huh?" Natsume said, turning to him. "What did you say?"

"Never mind." Kitamoto muttered. Natsume nodded and turned back to looking at the blank wall.

"Do you think Reiko's possessing him?" Nishimura whispered. "Natsume usually acts somewhat strange but ever since we went into his room he's been acting stranger than usual." Natsume jumped up suddenly, a look of fear in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Natsume?" Kitamoto asked, worriedly looking around for any sign of Reiko.

"It's nothing." Natsume said, sounding upset. Then that fake smile slid back into place. "I'm going to get some snacks, ok?" Before the other two had time to answer, Natsume darted out of the room.

"What do you think is going on?" Kitamoto asked worriedly. Natsume usually acted strange but with their new knowledge of youkai and Reiko his behaviour was worrisome.

"Maybe we should go check on him…" Nishimura started to say when he noticed something on the ground by the door. "Hey. what's that?"

.

**Natsume's POV**

.

Natsume reached the bottom of the stairs and ran to the kitchen. Behind him he could hear the youkai thudding down the staircase. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and then continued running.

"Where's sensei?" he wondered. "He should be back by now." He heard the youkai thud around in the kitchen and he ran outside. He had to get the youkai away from his friends.

He had noticed the youkai when they entered his room. While his friends were setting up to stay over the youkai watched them hungrily. He kept an eye on it to see what it would do. While his friends were talking, it suddenly started moving towards them. That was when Natsume had jumped up. The youkai noticed his movements and turned its attention on him. When he left the room the youkai started following him.

Natsume ran out the front door and looked for a place to hide, hoping the youkai wasn't very smart. He dove behind a bush and a few seconds later he heard the youkai pass him. He sighed and went back inside, thankful that the youkai wasn't very smart. He headed upstairs and went into his room. He stopped short at the doorway, his eyes widening in horror. Kitamoto and Nishimura were sitting on the floor looking through The Book of Friends.

"Where did you find that?" Natusme gasped, rushing forward and grabbing it from them.

"On the ground." Kitamoto said while frowning. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Natsume said quickly, hiding it in his back pocket. Kitamoto and Nishimura looked at each other worriedly.

"Well anyways, um… did you get the snacks?" Kitamoto asked.

"Oh sorry," Natsume muttered, standing up and rushing downstairs, "I'll get them now."

"How did he forget the snacks?" Kitamoto asked, "Isn't that why he left? What was he doing downstairs?"

"I have no idea." Nishimura muttered.

"Also what's up with that book we found?" Kitamoto asked. "He was acting really weird about it."

"He was hiding something, that's for sure." Nishimura muttered.

"It was full of scribbles. Do you think it's an old note book that he used to doodle on?" Kitamoto said.

"That doesn't explain his reaction." Nishimura said. "He wouldn't react like that if that was all it was."

"I think we should try to get it from him." Kitamoto said. "It might be connected to Reiko."

"I think we both need to calm down a little." Nishimura said. "This youkai business is really messing us up. We don't know if it's Reiko or not. We need to stop jumping to conclusions. Just because he's hiding things from us doesn't mean it automatically means Reiko's involved."

"But what if it is connected to her?" Kitamoto asked worriedly. "Maybe that's how she's been controlling him. We should at least look through it and see what we can learn about it. If it doesn't seem to have any connections to her we'll return it."

"But how will we know if it is connected to her or not?" Nishimura asked. "We can't sense her presence or anything." Both boys were silent for a moment.

"Oh, I know!" Kitamoto said. "Tanuma!"

"Huh?" Nishimura frowned.

"Tanuma's father's a monk, isn't he?" Kitamoto said. "I bet he could figure out if it's connected or not."

"Good idea!" Nishimura exclaimed. The door opened suddenly and Natsume rushed back in with a tray of snacks.

"Right, here they are." He said with a smile. "Sorry, I forgot them the first time. I got…distracted."

"It's fine!" Nishimura said, putting his arm around his shoulder and reaching for one of the snacks. As he took one he eyed Kitamoto and nodded. They would try to get that book tonight.

.

**Sasada's POV**

.

Sasada walked through the town looking at a map.

"Still nothing." she muttered, crossing a library off her map. "Where should I head next?" Before she had time to think about it a sharp pain hit her arm. She gasped and grabbed her arm, dropping the map as she did. A few seconds later the pain was gone. Sasada frowned, wondering what that was all about. She tried to pick up the map but found, to her shock and horror, she couldn't move. Then, on their own, her feet started walking. She gasped as she was dragged across the street and down another road. She opened her mouth to try to cry out but found she couldn't make a sound. She helplessly walked along another road until she came to the abandoned house. Her feet walked right up to the door and her hand opened the door. When she entered the house she found the dog statue waiting for her.

"What progress have you made on finding the Book of Friends?" it asked. Sasada felt another sharp pain in her arm and she could move again.

"What happened?" she cried, huddling on the ground whilst shivering. "What did you do to me?!"

"I called you." it reminded her. "When I call, you will return to me." Sasada shivered.

"Are the boys going to come?" she asked the youkai.

"No, I only called you." It said. "I only need one human to report on your progress."

"Oh." Sasada muttered. She shakily got back up and took a step to the side. Her feet hit something crunchy. She looked down to find rats and birds' skeleton littering the floor. She screamed and fell back.

"W-w-what's all this?" she asked.

"I will destroy anything that comes into this house!" it snarled.

"I see." Sasada gulped.

"I grow wary of your stalling human." it growled. "What progress have you made? Answer my question or I'll eat you."

"If you eat her you'll only make it harder on yourself." another voice spoke. "Humans are emotional creatures. Kill one and the others will be too emotional to be of any use." Sasada looked behind her but didn't see anyone. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw something sitting on a window sill. She spun all the way around and came face to face with… Natsume's cat?

"What he is doing here?" she thought worriedly. "If that youkai sees him he will eat him!" Natsume would be heartbroken if his pet died. She hoped the youkai didn't see him.

"They will still complete what I ask." the dog statue said. "Humans are easily scared." Sasada turned back around and looked at the dog statue. It didn't seem to have notice the cat in the window. It seemed too distracted by the other youkai, or whatever it was, in the room.

"Hmmm it's not that easy." the other voice said. "Humans can act in ways that are… unexpected." Sasada kept her eyes on the youkai. If she looked back it might notice Natsume's cat.

"You must have been spending too much time with the humans." the dog statue snarled. "You've grown soft to believe that." Perhaps she could try scaring him away. But cats were known to hide when scared so he'd probably hide somewhere in the building and then the youkai would know he was here.

"I have not!" the other voice yelled. Sasada suddenly had an idea. Before the youkai had time to respond she spun around, charging to the window. She scooped up the cat, pushed open the window and through him out. What happened next was unexpected. Natsume's cat hit thin air and was shot back across the room and into the ground. Sasada stared in shock at the now angry cat. The cat sat up and glared at her. Then to her utter shock it opened its mouth and yelled.

"You idiot! Are you trying to kill me?!"

.

**Please review**


End file.
